


Take Two

by Queen_Leggy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Breaking and Entering, Depression, Explicit Language, F/F, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Suicidal Eren Yeager, Suicide, Suicide Notes, Time Travel Fix-It, add more tags as I go, just a heads up, the suicide isn't in any detail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-03-27 13:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13882152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Leggy/pseuds/Queen_Leggy
Summary: When Levi learns of Eren's suicide, he's given a chance to go back to before the problems started in order to prevent it from happening.





	1. Shattered

_The world is cruel, harsh, unforgiving, every day is a battle, and every day that you live is an achievement, proof that everything that life throws at you, you can beat. You can just laugh at life's face as it fails to truly break you. Yet, each day becomes a losing battle and you're fighting on your own without aid. Bruises don't heal overnight, limbs don't grow back, you're battered and broken, and questioning if what you're fighting for is even worth it._

_I'm sorry, but this is my last stand, and I'm outnumbered._

_Eren._

I read over the note five more times, my tears welling up, threatening to spill over the edge. Eren was a fighter, he always was, how the fuck did I not notice that Eren was getting this bad. Eren had written two more letters, one just for me, one for his family. With shaking hands, I slice open the envelope. The handwriting is a general mess, true Eren style, with the ink smudged in places, where tears had fallen.

_Levi, I'm sorry that we can't go to the movies together, I know you were looking forward to that. I really hope that you would just forget I was even here, move on, live a happy life. Remember how we met, Jean was teasing me as normal, yet you didn't know that was how we were normally, you just punched the shit out of him. Yeah, I found out that I wasn't as straight as I thought I was then. I was scared, we don't exactly live in a very open-minded place. So I kept it inside, hid it under lock and key. It had since dawned on me that I've never had a crush on a girl or felt any attraction towards them. I'm gay. I've had multiple crushes since then. I've had a major crush on you for the longest time, it was weird, hiding it from you, we tell each other everything. I don't know when I became such a coward, it hurts to know I am one though. How could a warrior run away from a battle?_

_I'm not making much sense, am I?_

_Please, just forget me. I don't want you to hurt._

_-The Suicidal Bastard_

~~_I love you._ ~~

The last few words were scored out so many times it's impossible to read. I try to decipher it but after one of my tears falls on them and it smudges, I deem it a lost cause. The fact that he hid such an important aspect of him hurts, but nowhere near the pain of losing him completely. How did I miss the signs? 

I curl up in a ball, crying, wishing that it wasn't true, that I'd see his bright smile and eyes in the morning at school tomorrow. My body runs cold and I'm shivering, a cold hand is placed on my wrist, and my head jerks up, a soft blue glow seems to have taken over the lights. In front of me sits the source of the blue glow. A woman with shimmery blue hair which passes past her waist, wearing a soft baby blue dress, she has wings of blue fire, and she feels so cold.

"My child, what pains you so?"

He voice is soft, gentle and soothing, it makes me want to trust her, despite the absurdity of the situation. I hold out the first letter, holding my personal one close, Eren's secret shouldn't be given out to random spirits. She skims over the paragraph before smiling, I clench my fist, preparing to swing, no one could smile after reading about someone's horrible fate.

"My child, cry not, for I shall grant you a second chance."

"A second chance?"

"Yes. You will have a chance to save his life."

"How?"

"By going back to where it all began."

"I can't. I don't know how. Surely there's a catch as well."

"Fear not, my child, for I shall be by your side. After all, it is a guardian angel's job."

Slowly the wings disappeared, the normal light returning, warmth returned to the room. She no longer radiated cold and inside just looked cold. Her hair shortened to reach her shoulders and darkened to a coal black and her eyes took on a silver colour, much like mine. She was beautiful, yet felt so cold and unnatural. 

"You only have one shot to help him. You'll have your memories, don't worry."

Searing pain ran through my body as if a fire decided to run through all my veins at once and everything faded to black.


	2. Shook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Levi, this is your chance to fix everything," she glances to mum, just out in the hall, "maybe you'll get a friend for once, loner. If your glare scares off everyone, don't come crying to me though." She winks at me, my first task clearly is to befriend Eren. I can't wait to meet him, I've missed him.

"Mikasa, Levi, get ready for school, don't want to be late for your first day! New school, after all, you want to make a good impression!" Mum calls, but who's Mikasa. I search through my memories to figure out when I moved school, that was almost five years ago. The crazy ghost thing really did it, or is this some fucked up dream. The door flies open, and a girl marches in, already in her school uniform, with a grey skirt, pale blue shirt and grey and blue tie. She wore black knee high socks as well, I swear, she's the thing from last night, 5 years in the future.

"Levi, this is your chance to fix everything," she glances to mum, just out in the hall, "maybe you'll get a friend for once, loner. If your glare scares off everyone, don't come crying to me though." She winks at me, my first task clearly is to befriend Eren. I can't wait to meet him, I've missed him.

"Mikasa, be nice." Mum scolds and walks away, I shoo Mikasa out to get changed. I wear the same thing as Mikasa, just with grey trousers instead of a skirt. I grab a quick breakfast and leave, if I remember correctly, it was a little blond kid who was paired with me to show me around, Armin, Eren's best friend. The smart kid found out that Eren was suicidal, he was too late though. I shouldn't be, not this time.

Mikasa doesn't struggle to match my pace as we make the walk down to school. We make it to school early, around the time that Eren generally walks in, and there his is, along with Armin. He's laughing and I try to not stare in shock, he's alive, and I've missed that laugh. We walk behind them, while I have a strong urge to talk to him like I always do, talking and mocking horse face. 

Jean turns the corner, Mikasa's eyes follow him for a second, before pointing him out to me, commenting drily, "He certainly has a punchable face."

Perfect, I get to punch him, again.

We head to the office, they hand over timetables and a lady comes round to get us settled in. Armin also joins her, and after a tedious meeting, he leads us to our first class.

I won't bore you with the details of what happened in class, or anything else until lunch when I saw Eren again.

"What the fuck you suicidal bastard!" Horseface snarled at Eren, and just like last time, I looked around to see if there were teachers around and upon deeming it safe, I swung my fist into his stomach, knocking him off the ground.

"You can't just talk to someone like that!" I growled, a crowd gathered, expecting a fight. Eren, just like last time diffused the situation. This time I notice the pink-ish hue his cheeks have taken.

"It's no big deal erm... what's your name?"

"Levi."

"It isn't a problem, he's my friend. We insult each other all the time." This time though, I know to not let it slide just so easily.

"Suicide isn't something to joke about."

"I understand and I believe Jean does too. I'm Eren by the way." 

I extend a hand to Jean and help him up, apologising for punching him. Jean compliments my punch, just like last time. It all feels so surreal, the deja vu is crazy too, maybe a groundhog day feel, but this one lasts 5 years. I apologise to Eren as well, and he invites me to have lunch with him, just like before, I agree, as Mikasa walks around the corner. 

She stands beside me, I notice a slight frown from Eren, so I introduce her as my sister. He smiles and introduces himself, how can his smile be so bright? She smiles and walks with us as we go down the street, Armin joins us along the route. The conversation sparks from there, Mikasa and I stay quiet, while the other three chat animatedly. Mikasa watches Eren closely, it honestly a tad disturbing but who am I to judge? After all, I'm only here for my best friend, he just doesn't know it yet.

"Hey Levi, Mikasa, you haven't spoken much. What do you guys like?"

"Cleaning, tea and art," I reply, not paying attention to what Mikasa says.

"Wait, you like art too! That's amazing!"

"Yeah, shame it can be so messy."

"That's the fun part."

"I prefer it to have some structure and for it to be neat."

Jean interrupts, "Well, your punches hurt like a bitch, what's the secret?"

"I go to a boxing club, well, I've joined a new one after moving across country."

"Oh, I go to one too, maybe we should fight together sometime!" Eren sounds excited, and I respond with a nod, last time I only responded with a non-committal grunt so this should be better, right? I have no idea what I'm doing in all seriousness. 

Jean warns Eren against fighting with me and they start to bicker between them. Armin shakes his head. 

It isn't until after school when Mikasa drags me to Mr Smith's class, she signals to stay still and keep quiet. I hear a voice which rings a bell, Kenny's, he's a year above us, and a piece of work. He's honestly the one person I know who is most likely to be a criminal. 

"Now, do you have what I asked for."

"I told you, I'm not going to stoop so low." Eren's voice. I ignore Mikasa's warning, and knock on the door, feigning a worried act, "Is Mr Smith here, I forgot the homework." Lies, I would never forget that.

"You just missed him. I can get you it though, so come with me." Eren says and leads me away to his locker. So Kenny's who I'm watching out for anything suspicious, there's something that Eren left out in his letter, and that's what was important.

Once home, Mikasa hands me a letter, it's in Eren's handwriting and is address to Carla and Grisha. Silently, I open it, scared of what was inside.

_Mum, dad,_

_Please don't be disappointed, I'm happy now, with the stars, no one can hurt me here. I suppose you want to know why. After all, I seemed so happy. Well, I suppose gay is a term for happy, but in the end, it wasn't the happy gay that killed me, but the one that faced opposition and I had to hide. I wish that was all my problems, but I'm scared to go to school now, there's someone there who's hurting me, mentally and physically. It's been going on for years and I'm scared and no one will understand the fear he brings._

_I love you, you were amazing parents, but I just can't fool you forever._

_-Your loving son._


	3. Soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is everything ok?"
> 
> "I kinda need your help."
> 
> Please say it's homework or some shit.
> 
> "And, well, it's not exactly legal."
> 
> Fuck.

I have been watching Eren closely, he acts just like he always does, bright and warm. It's a comforting fact to know that I have five years, yet, if this is when the problems started, and I have evidence of that, it's better to deal with it now, rather than four years down the line, then I'd be worried he'd be too far gone.

I keep an eye out for Kenny as well, brat hasn't shown his ugly mug around these past few days. The fucker, if I saw him, I swear I would punch him in his ugly face. Fuck being civil. Shame, even with these thoughts he doesn't even turn up. The world just doesn't want to give me this chance. 

It surreal, I'm constantly on edge, looking out for the smallest details, and yet nothing seems to have changed from how I remembered it, sure, my memory has faded since then, but surely, I should've noticed something new. Something small that could've helped me figure out when he started spiralling, or has he already started? Why did I agree to this again, the stress is going to kill me before Eren kills himself. 

However, the very idea of going through his suicide again doesn't feel very appealing, I've already lost too many people. Now I have the chance to save one. I'll just have to make sure I don't regret this decision. 

After school Eren calls, strange, I don't remember giving my number. I don't even remember getting his number.

"Hey. It's Eren, Mikasa gave me your number."

"Is everything ok?"

"I kinda need your help."

Please say it's homework or some shit.

"And, well, it's not exactly legal."

Fuck.

He gives me an address and tells me to hurry, why the fuck is he breaking the law? Seriously, from personal experience, it's not a good idea. Sure, the adrenaline rush is great and all, but the fear of getting caught and having to lay low, all while trying to protect others from the truth, it's some stressful shit. 

"Don't get yourself killed while you wait for me brat."

I hang up and bolt out the door, grabbing my gloves and shoving my boots on, sprinting to the address given, following the directions on my phone. I must look like an idiot, a punk kid running as if his life depends on it. I run my hands through my hair, resisting the urge to tear it out, what the fuck is this kid thinking?

"You're here."

"Someone needs to save your ass if you fuck up."

"Nice to know that you have such high expectations of me."

"Now what are we doing kid?"

"Simple, taking back what's mine. Just a little breaking and entering. Hey what are you doing!?"

"Scouting the place, seeing if there's any security measures needing taken."

"Oh mister professional over here."

"Quiet, he's in the livin...g room." It's Kenny. 

"Is everything ok Levi?"

"Yeah."

I lead him round the other side of the house, this way should be safer. Why did Eren not chose to go rob this house when it was empty? Sometimes I question my choice in friends, after all, Isabel was a piece of work as well. Wait, that's disrespecting the dead, right? I shouldn't be thinking of her now, focus on the task at hand. I jimmy open the window, it opens without much hassle, thankfully he left the window ajar, wait, why did he leave it ajar? This can't be right.

Are we walking into a trap? Are we doing an Isabel? 

If Kenny sees us, I'll just have to kick his ass. I can do that. Just as long as Eren gets away, prison can't be that bad... I can't safe Eren from prison. Kenny will still torture him, still drive him past the point of no return, still haunt his waking days, all while I'm rotting away in a jail cell, unable to do anything to save him, like I came back to do. I cant do this. 

And we're in the building.

Kenny's music is loud, annoyingly so. I didn't notice it as much outside, but it's ear-splittingly loud indoors. The bass shakes the whole house and I swear I can see the walls shake, how isn't he deaf? It should drown out or footsteps however, so, maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Or a false friend.

Kenny's no where to be seen, so as long as it stays that way we'll be safe. I slip the gloves on, and Eren leads me to the basement stairs. Slowly we descend to our sure doom, there's no escape if caught here, however, the important question is how does Eren now where we're going? The room's dark, drawers all over the place. Who seriously needs this many drawers? They cover the whole area. Good for hiding, I suppose.

The music stops.

Hastily, we hide behind the drawers, hearts hammering against our chests. Footsteps lead down the stairs, and I stop breathing, Eren grabs my hand, I'm glad I'm wearing gloves because he gets disgustingly sweaty hands when scared. He walks around, footsteps slow and steady, as if he knows we're here. Gradually his footsteps stop in front of us, Eren tenses up, squeezing my hand.

I look around for any possible escape routes, every exit was blocked. We were screwed, Eren was a fighter, however, not a skilled one. He relied on fury rather than technique, he wouldn't last long in a fight, especially against Kenny, I've done my research, and he is tough as nails. 

He grunts and walks away, I don't dare to breathe however, until he starts going up the stairs. Taking in a deep breath, I look at Eren, he looks paler than normal, but he smiles at me, and I can't resist smiling back at him. We survived without having to fight. But we should be more careful, I think he knows that there's someone here. we were silent, his music was loud as fuck, what could've alerted him?

The window, we left it open.

How could I make such a stupid mistake? Eren grabs a letter and a small bag and signals for us to leave, we move slowly, Eren heads straight for the open window, reflexively, I grab his arm and make my way towards a different window, that's most certainly a trap. We crawl out of a different window, I walk to the corner and glance around, it was a trap. Kenny waits nearby, we make our way around the other side of the building and briskly walk away from the crime scene.

"What did we risk our lives for?" I ask, surely he could tell me.

"A key and a letter detailing where the chest it opens is." He open the bag and takes out a golden key on a chain, he slips it on and tucks it underneath his shirt.

"I nearly died for a key!"

"It's a family heirloom."

"You're lucky you're my friend."


	4. Soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You can actually smile!" Yep, he saw.
> 
> "No. I'm a grumpy old asshole who doesn't know what the fuck a smile is."
> 
> "I saw you smile asshole."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've broken one of my fingers and so that's why this chapter took forever to come out. Sorry!
> 
> ALSO, YMIR AND HISTORIA FINALLY APPEAR!

Eren slips the key around his neck and tucks it under his shirt. Was it really that important that we had to break into a guy's house for it? Clearly, for Eren, it was.

But the way he smiles at me, with his eyes full of life and a smile brighter than the smile, I can't help but think this whole thing was worth it. He looks so happy to have it back, it's kinda cute.

"Please, don't make this a habit, breaking the law's not a good idea kid."

"Yeah, but I have you to save my ass."

"That you have."

I smiled slightly, mainly with my eyes, but Eren must've seen because somehow his smile got brighter (a sight so cute it shouldn't be legal) and he stopped in his tracks.

"You can actually smile!" Yep, he saw.

"No. I'm a grumpy old asshole who doesn't know what the fuck a smile is."

"I saw you smile asshole."

"You must be seeing things."

He pouts and walks off in a childish mock strop. Seriously, this is how someone who just broke the law acts? Eren, as your best friend, you confuse me. You seriously confuse me.

"Seriously Eren! Stop being such a lil' shit."

"I'm not talking to you until you admit you smiled."

"Fine, I smiled, happy now?"

He smiles and pulls me along with him as we walk to an ice-cream shop. Saying it's to celebrate our victory, Ymir and Historia are the only other people here, they appear to be sharing an ice-cream. Ymir's feeding Historia her ice-cream as well, which is completely unsanitary.

We order, Eren gets bubblegum and I get mint chocolate. While we eat he eventually goes silent and stares at me, which frankly is a bit strange.

"Take a photo, it'll last longer."

The lil' fucker actually takes a photo before laughing. He seems unfazed by my glare before taking a napkin and wiping the tip of my nose, apparently, there was ice-cream there. 

"You better not show anyone that." 

"Can at least set it as my wallpaper at least?"

"Fuck no."

Now he's using his puppy eyes on me, I've had five years of experience with those, I've grown resistant. The secret's to be an asshole.

"No."

"Ass." 

"Brat." I ruffle his hair and get up to leave with a follow me motion. We have the rest of the day so we could kick people's ass at video games.


End file.
